[R] how do i use the get function to obtain an element from a list...

[Juan Manuel Barreneche]

my problem can be explained with the following example:

x <- 1:12
y <- 13:24
a <- data.frame(x = x, y = y)

## if i write
a$x
## it returns
[1]  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12

## but the function get doesn't recognize a$x. Instead it produces the
following error:
get("a$x")
Error in get(x, envir, mode, inherits) : variable "a$x" was not found

i intend to do it inside a loop, using a new object (and hence, a new
name) for each iteration (i.e., instead of a$x, it would be a$1, a$2,
a$3, and so on, for a million times).

i would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me on this issue,

thanks in advance,

Juan Manuel Barreneche,
Zoología de Vertebrados,
Facultad de Ciencias,
UDELAR, Uruguay.